Imane Khelif vs Janjaem Suwannapheng Olympic boxing live updates, results, highlights

PARIS – Algeria's Imane Khelif is back in the boxing ring tonight at the Paris Olympics. And this time under the lights at Roland Garros Stadium. Khelif is fighting for a chance to win a silver or gold medal.

Khelif has advanced to the semifinals of the welterweight division (146 pounds). She’ll be facing a familiar foe – Thailand’s Janjaem Suwannapheng. Khelif, 25, beat Suwannapheng in the semifinals of the 2023 world championships before Khelif was disqualified for allegedly failing what the organizers called a "gender eligibility test."

The International Boxing Association (IBA), a discredited organization with no role in the Olympics, disqualified Khelif and Taiwanese boxer Lin without providing evidence of any failed tests. Lin is scheduled to fight in her semifinal match Wednesday.

Round 3: Khelif ends fight with energy

Khelif’s quest for a gold medal continues with all five judges awarding the round to Khelif.

Round 2: Khelif takes the round

Khelif moves quickly out from her corner. More chants, muffled now, and Khelif takes a big swing – and misses. Suwannapheng looks content with the pace and connects with a jab and a right. Khelif struggling to find an opening as Suwannapheng shows poise and good footwork. Khelif rushes in, but her opponent safely sidesteps. But all five judges award the round to Khelif.

Round 1: Judges award round to Khelif

Wearing blue, out comes Khelif. The boxers circling at the center of the ring. Her opponent lands a combo and Khelif fires back. A left from Khelif. More chants of “Imane’’ go up from the crowd. Boxers looking a little tentative. But the Thai boxer showing more aggression. Khelif scores with a right as they get tied up. Raucous cheers. All five judges award the round to Khelif.

Imane Khelif makes her entrance

Fans were chanting “Imane’’ before Khelif even entered the arena. And when she was officially introduced, spectators erupted in cheers and chanted yet again.

Imane Khelif to box on center court

No signs of stray tennis balls at Roland-Garros Stadium, home of the French Open. In fact, if not for the tennis history oozing out of the walls, you might think the place regularly serves as a venue for boxing.

The boxing ring has been set up directly on top of the tennis court. Without any sign of the red clay.

The Olympic boxing competition during the Paris Games started at North Paris Arena, a more humble venue, before moving to Roland-Garros for the medal rounds. And no matter how good the boxing is, the reigning heavyweight champ will be Rafael Nadal, who’s won a tournament-record 14 titles here in the boxing ring, er, center court.

Imane Khelif draws strong Algerian support

Flag-wearing Algerian spectators sang and chanted outside Roland-Garros Stadium in support of Khelif more than two hours before her fight was scheduled to start. Among them was Nassym Labbas, a French citizen of Algerian descent draped in the green, white and red Algerian flag.

Labbas said he and his cousin drove an hour from their home in a suburb outside of Paris and paid $200 each for tickets to attend Khelif’s fight.

“To support her,’’ Labbas said, noting he thinks racism has fed into the controversy.

When is Imane Khelif’s next fight?

4:34 p.m. ET, Tuesday.

How to watch Imane Khelif’s next fight

The fight will be broadcast on NBC/Peacock.

Where will the match be held?

Roland Garros Stadium, home of the French Open

Why is Imane Khelif guaranteed bronze?

A victory for Khelif would vault her into the finals, where the winner would win gold and the runner-up would take silver. But she’s already guaranteed bronze.

In Olympic boxing, bronze medals are awarded to both losing semifinalists in the single-elimination format tournament.

Olympic boxing basics

Bouts are scheduled for three rounds and are scored by five judges. Using a 10-point system, each judge awards 10 points to the boxer they deem won the round and at least nine points to the boxer they deem lost the round.

Barring a stoppage, the winner of the bout will be determined by points based on the judges' scorecards. A boxer earns one point for each judge who deems the boxer has won at least two of the three rounds.

Imane Khelif’s road to the semifinals

In Khelif’s opening bout, Italy's Angela Carini abandoned the fight only 46 seconds into the match. Khelif demonstrated she could deliver a punch – one solidly connected with Carini’s face before the Italian quit fighting – and Khelif secured a spot in the quarterfinals.

In Khelif’s quarterfinal bout, she beat Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori on points by unanimous decision, 5-0. This time she had nine minutes to perform and showed impressive boxing skills in dominating Hamori.

Khelif, who made her amateur boxing debut in 2018, is 38-9 with five knockouts as an amateur, according to BoxRec.

Who is Janjaem Suwannapheng?

The 23-year-old won her first two bouts by split decision. The victories came against Brigitte Mbabi of the Democratic Republic of The Congo and Busenaz Surmeneli of Turkey.

She made her amateur boxing debut in 2019 and is 14-5 with one knockout, according to BoxRec.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Imane Khelif Olympic boxing fight live updates, results